Lightning Fill In The Blank

Now it's time for our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

BILL KURTIS: Brian as one, Kyrie has two, Mo has five.

MO ROCCA: Oh, my gosh, how did this happen?

BRIAN BABYLON: What?

KYRIE O'CONNOR: What?

(APPLAUSE)

BABYLON: What?

O'CONNOR: What?

ROCCA: Oh, my gosh. I want to thank my manager.

SAGAL: That's crazy.

ROCCA: I want to thank my lawyer, I want to thank (unintelligible)...

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right. Well, Brian, you are in third place, so you're up first. Fill in the blank. Less than 24 hours after Wendy Davis' filibuster derailed the Texas abortion bill, governor blank called a special session for July 1.

BABYLON: Perry.

SAGAL: Yes, Rick Perry.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week a Milan court sentenced former Italian prime minister blank to seven years in prison and banned him from public office.

BABYLON: Berlusconi.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: In what the Hostess company is calling the sweetest comeback ever, blanks will return to store shelves on July 15th.

BABYLON: Twinkies.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: In a last minute rally the Chicago Blackhawks made two goals in 17 seconds to win this year's blank.

BABYLON: Stanley Cup.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in England had to be rescued by police this week after he blanked while trying to make his friends laugh.

BABYLON: Chicken farted.

SAGAL: No.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Got his head stuck in a traffic cone. Astronomers announced this week that they have found three blanks 22 light years away that could be habitable.

BABYLON: Planets.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented new rules this week requiring that healthier snacks replace junk food in blank.

BABYLON: Vending machines.

SAGAL: No, in schools. An organization in Canada has launched...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ...a campaign to get kids to give blank to their teachers as end-of-the-year presents.

BABYLON: Hair body coats. Man.

SAGAL: No.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Booze. Forget apples. What teachers really want is a fifth of bourbon. That's according to the new Liquor Control Board of Ontario ad campaign at least. It says, thank your teacher for a great year. It includes a link to buy a gift card for the local Canadian ABC store. The campaign has been roundly criticized by everyone except all teachers.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Brian do on our quiz?

KURTIS: He got five right for ten more points. He now has 11, and that's the lead, Brian.

SAGAL: Very good.

KURTIS: The lead.

(APPLAUSE)

BABYLON: We'll see for how long.

SAGAL: All right.

BABYLON: Very diplomatic.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Kyrie, you're up next, please fill in the blank.

O'CONNOR: U.N. investigators traveled to Turkey to investigate claims that the government of blank had used chemical weapons in its civil war.

Syria.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Thursday, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged with four counts of murder in connection with the bombing at the blank.

O'CONNOR: Boston Marathon.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Approximately 13 million viewers watched last Sunday as blank walked the tightrope across the Colorado River Gorge at the Grand Canyon.

O'CONNOR: Nik Wallenda.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in Adelaide, Australia escaped conviction after being fined by police for blanking.

O'CONNOR: Driving a car across a stage.

SAGAL: Walking across the street too slowly. On Monday...

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: ...fans gathered for a parade celebrating blank's victory in the NBA Championships.

O'CONNOR: Those people - the tall people.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yes.

O'CONNOR: The Heat.

SAGAL: The what?

O'CONNOR: The Heat, the Heat.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the game show blank taped an all plinko episode.

O'CONNOR: The Price is Right.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A Massachusetts man who stole a woman's purse was later caught and arrested...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ...when police found blank at the crime scene.

O'CONNOR: Lipstick.

SAGAL: No. His birth certificate and a letter from his mom.

O'CONNOR: Oh.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Presumably the note from his mom said, good luck on your stealing. Zachary Tentoni made off with 40 bucks, which is pretty awesome until he realized he dropped the bag containing his birth certificate and the letter from his mom. It seems crazy he would've brought these along to a robbery, but the last person he robbed had demanded two forms of ID before letting him steal her handbag.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Kyrie do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Kyrie got five right for 10 more points. So she has a total of 12. And surprisingly, that is the lead, Kyrie.

SAGAL: Oh , my goodness. So how many then...

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Bill, you seem so disappointed in them. So how many then does Mo need to win?

KURTIS: He needs four to win.

SAGAL: Fill in the blank, Mo. At hearings this week, congressmen questioned the principal deputy commissioner of the blank over the targeting of political groups.

ROCCA: IRS.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: In spite of her emotional interview on the "Today Show" Wednesday, more sponsors dropped blank this week.

ROCCA: Paula Deen.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Just recently reapproved for flights, three flights on Boeing's blank planes were cut short with mechanical problems this week.

ROCCA: Oh, it's the Boeing Dreamliner.

SAGAL: It is.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Hours after escaping from the National Zoo, Rusty the blank was found hiding out in a neighborhood in Northwest Washington.

ROCCA: The red panda.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week the CIA's new plan to stop leaks to the media was blanked.

ROCCA: Leaked.

SAGAL: To the media.

(LAUGHTER)

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The cast of "The Sopranos" turned out for the funeral of actor blank in New York Thursday.

ROCCA: James Gandolfini.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Justin Bieber kept a private plane company waiting for eight hours this week while he was blanking.

ROCCA: Oh, I think he - while he was getting a haircut?

SAGAL: No. While he was looking for his lost monkey. And it's a new monkey too that he lost.

ROCCA: Oh, OK.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: An elderly man in Australia...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ...who stole a woman's car was almost immediately captured by police when he blanked.

ROCCA: Oh, he almost ran the woman over.

SAGAL: No. He took too long to put his walker in the trunk before driving away.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: You have to give this armed robber props for keeping active in his old age, but we're thinking that continuing his life of crime probably wasn't what his doctors had in mind.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Police say they're just lucky his speedy get away was slowed down by having to pack up the walker. If he had been on a mobility scooter, there would've been no catching him.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, did Mo do well enough to win?

KURTIS: Seventeen points and this week's champion.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Well done.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: OK. I'm not going to argue with that.

SAGAL: Stop your arguing, Mo. In just a minute, we're going to ask our panelists what will President Obama do to finally get people to care about climate change. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.